


house of sweets

by sodasouffle (mellowie)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Escape, Family, Hansel and Gretel AU, Other, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, fairy tale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24002506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellowie/pseuds/sodasouffle
Summary: Emile discovers his father's secret plan to abandon him and Mercedes in the woods.Now the siblings must make their escape before dawn. A Hansel and Gretel AU
Relationships: Jeritza von Hrym & Mercedes von Martritz
Kudos: 11
Collections: FE3H Siblings Week





	house of sweets

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of FE3H Siblings Week: Fairy Tale AU!
> 
> I thought that Hansel and Gretel fits Jeritza and Mercedes very well! Somehow, I find their relationship as siblings in the game quite touching...

Mother and Father were having a quarrel behind closed doors again.

“ _Please quiet down… can’t let the children hear…_ ”

But Emile could hear them very well. Even though his mother’s pleas went unheard by his father, it was as though their shouts had penetrated through the creaky wooden door and shot through his heart. 

He couldn’t comprehend most of his father’s vehement words amidst his spitting, but he could pick out the occasional repeated words: “money”, “hungry”, “children”, and “a waste”.

Emile remained quiet. He hugged his knees under the stairway, not quite knowing what to do. He had only wanted to sneak out for a quick midnight snack from the kitchen. But having to hide and eavesdrop in the dark, he somehow felt like a rat. Dirty, hungry and unwanted in his own home.

When the light from the door emerged, his blood ran cold and he was frozen. Fortunately, his mother caught sight of him before his father could. She pulled him by the arm to a corner, saving him from a much grimmer fate.

“Mother, is it true…” Emile asked, his expression vacant. “...what Father plans to do to you and Sister?”

His mother’s bottom lip quivered at his question. Emile could only watch as his mother broke down in tears, and could say no more.

“My dear Emile…” his mother’s voice was hoarse. He could see in her sunken eyes that she had given up beseeching her husband and restoring any sense left in him. She gripped her trembling hands onto Emile’s shoulders, making him feel smaller than he already was.

“Please, my child, you have to listen to me carefully...”

Emile listened. His eyes never strayed from hers as he engraved each and every one of her words into his memory, his soul. When his mother finished conveying to him her plan, conceived out of pure desperation, he knew what he must do at once.

He dashed up the stairs, taking three steps at a time, not stopping to catch his breath. Slipping into the bedroom that he shared with his big sister, he headed towards her bed. 

Even in deep slumber, she wore a peaceful, blissful face. Normally, Emile would hate to disturb her when she was resting this soundly. But at this very moment, Emile did not care.

“Sister, wake up. We have to leave.”

Emile shook her arm. When Mercedes didn’t stir, he continued shaking her, harder and more urgently than before. Eventually, Mercedes relented and got up, groggily rubbing her eyes.

“Emile? What’s wrong?” she yawned. “Are you still afraid to pee by yourself?”

“No,” Emile was blunt. “We have to go.”

“Go to...the privy?”

“Go somewhere, anywhere, far from here.”

“Huh?” Mercedes could tell by his steely tone that he was serious. “But...why?”

Emile took in a sharp breath. Time was running out. He had to clear his sister’s confusion and convince her as soon as possible, but he was finding it tougher than expected. 

“Father…He...” Emile’s voice cracked. “...He wants to abandon us. You know how hard it is to get food right now. It has been just porridge and stale bread for weeks, and there are too many mouths in the House to feed. Even with Father’s money, it can’t sustain all of us for long.”

Colour drained from Mercedes’ cheeks, looking as pale as the ghosts in the bedtime stories she adored. 

“So when morning comes and we go into the woods for firewood, Father will leave us behind,” Emile clenched his fists. “Father chose the House over us, Sister...Mother said so.”

Mercedes widened her eyes in horror at the truth, which was more frightening than any ghost story she had heard. She sat by her bed, fully awake, and visibly shivering. “How...How _awful_!” she cried.

Emile waved his hands, gesturing at her to lower her voice. Mercedes nodded but she still looked shell-shocked.

“Mother intends to stay behind so we can make our escape. We'll return to her once we have found a new home,” Emile continued, hoping that it would be true. “Father should be asleep by now. We must hurry before he finds us. Please, Mercedes, we have to do this or you will be in danger.”

“I...I do think that it’s best for us to leave, “ Mercedes clasped her hands together, unable to hide her uncertainties. “But will we truly be alright by ourselves?” 

“Mother says that we don’t have to worry. The Goddess will not forsake us,” though the words came from his mouth, Emile didn’t know how much of it he believed himself. But if there was one thing that he believed in even stronger than the Goddess, it was his love for his big sister.

“Even if the Goddess were to one day abandon us too, I will never leave your side. I promise.”

Mercedes smiled warmly at his conviction and eased her shoulders.

“Okay, Emile,” her trust in her little brother prevailed over all else. “Let’s go.”

They rummaged through their drawers and combed under their beds, gathering whatever little food, water, and pennies they could find to stuff into their worn but sturdy shoulder bags.

Mercedes donned her weathered cloak for protection against the deadly chill of the night, pulling the hood over her head to camouflage in the shadows. She helped Emile to fasten his cloak, which belonged to Mercedes’s father and was now passed down to him, his stepson.

“Mother said that if Father ever heard us and woke, she would plant a distraction so we can sneak out through the back door safely,” Emile was saying.

“Got it,” Mercedes replied. She handed him his shoulder bag with a slight pause. “Oh, but there’s one more important thing, Emile.”

“What is it?”

Mercedes opened her palm to reveal a red piece of candy, the kind that melted in your mouth and was popular among nobles.

“A special treat just for you!” she grinned. “I was keeping it as a surprise, seeing how rare sweets are these days. It's a pity that we can’t bring your favourite ice cream, but I hope this will make do.”

For the first time in many moons, Emile smiled as his heart lifted from the aching pain of being seen as a burden.

One after the other, they crept down the stairs, avoiding the spots that would creak and give them away. They tiptoed past the dining hall, past the kitchen, and after much fumbling in the dark, found the backdoor that would change their lives forever.

They wrapped their cloaks tightly around themselves. Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine they would be doing what they were about to do. Even now, they could barely believe that they would soon be free.

“This is it, Emile.”

Mercedes’s heart pounded at the wave of emotions overwhelming her. Fear, worry, hope? All of them churned in her stomach and bit at her nerves.

Feeling a tug, she glanced down. Emile was pulling at her sleeves, the fire in his eyes determined and unwavering. For someone so small, he was so much stronger than he seemed.

Mercedes gently smiled. She had to be strong too so she could take care of him. She was the older sister, after all. Besides, as long as they were together, there was nothing that she was afraid of.

“What kind of new home do you think we will find, Emile?”

“Oh, I’ve been dreaming about it. I want a house with lots and lots of sweets and ice cream, so much that even the house itself is sweets! That way, I can eat all that I want forever and will never have to think about bad things or Father again.”

“A house made entirely of sweets? That sounds lovely! I’m sure we will find a happy place just like that.”

“Yes! I will share the sweets with you and we can eat them and live together happily ever after.”

On the 27th night of the Lone Moon, that was when the two siblings took each other’s hands and left House Bartels. They took their first steps into the foreboding darkness, and haven’t looked back since.


End file.
